Foxboro - Bill Belichick reacted with a shrug of the shoulders and a few compliments for Rex Ryan as a response to Ryan's crack last week during a
radio interview that he "never came here to kiss Bill Belichick's rings."
Speaking after today's mini-camp practice, Belichick said: "It doesn't matter. I'm just trying to get ready to play and that's it."
Belichick told me he didn't think the comments would ratchet up the Jets-Pats rivalry any more than it already is. "We’ve always had great battles with the Jets," he said. "I’m sure it will be very competitive. But we open with Buffalo, so that's the next team we play. We play Miami and the Jets in due time, and I'm sure they will be tough games, like they usually are."
More Belichick on Rex and the Jets' rivalary: "I have a lot of respect for Rex and what he did in Baltimore, the defense his teams played. We've always had great battles with the Jets, so I'm sure that will continue. It's a good rivalry. They beat us up here last year [in overtime]. They kind of got the last punch in on that one."
Evidently, Belichick is capable of doing something Ryan hasn't attempted in his brief tenure with the Jets: turn the other cheek.
